Wizardy Kid
by ansera
Summary: Arthur knows that he needs an heir.


For Harz, thanks so much for everything, love. ^^

-|-

Uther looked uncomfortable, which in itself should have warned Arthur about what was about to happen, but the Prince was too busy thinking about how his manservant had been too messy (_and hot and hard and he could still feel twinges of pain deep inside him_) the night before and how he'd had to sleep on mattresses wet with the evidence of their activities.

Uther cleared his throat, and Arthur looked up.

"Arthur," Uther started. "You are Prince of Camelot," he said, and Arthur resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the blatancy of the statement. "As such, you have several duties."

"I am aware, Father," Arthur said politely.

"Yes, yes," Uther said, fingers playing with the cuff of his shirtsleeve. "One of these is to produce an heir."

All thoughts of Merlin and their activities left his mind. This was unusual.

"I understand, Father," Arthur said, more cautiously this time.

"I hope you do," Uther frowned. "I have heard of the-" his father looked uneasy, and this time, Arthur took note of it.

It wasn't too difficult to put the pieces of the puzzle together after that.

"Oh," Arthur said. Then, "_Oh_."

Arthur straightened, thankful that the hall was empty of people, although now he realized that that might have been because Uther had made it as such and not just a coincidence. "You need not worry yourself over that matter, Father," Arthur informed him.

"I know that such relationships between a man and his manservant are only to be expected, but if you're getting too attached to Merlin-"

"I assure you that I will provide an heir to the throne, Father," Arthur said, tone firm.

Uther nodded slowly after a moment, shaking his head slightly before smiling, although it seemed somewhat stilted. "Good."

"May I take my leave now, Father?" Arthur asked with his hands fisted behind his back.

"Yes, and send Gaius in, would you?" Uther said, now distracted by other matters.

Arthur nodded, only barely managing to mumble the order to Gaius –who'd been standing outside the door—before stalking off in the direction of his room.

-|-

Technically, Arthur thought while walking along the corridors –not noticing the people who leapt out of his way—his father had asked for an heir, not a wife.

-|-

"Merlin," Arthur announced. "I want children."

Merlin looked up from the chainmail that he was cleaning with his brows furrowed. "No." He resumed cleaning.

"I don't mean like that," Arthur said quickly, moving to lean against the wall next to Merlin, although he didn't offer to help.

"Arthur," Merlin sounded slightly amused. "There is only one way a couple can have children. And the last I checked (_this morning, against the desk, deep scratches along Arthur's back_) both of us are fully male."

Arthur frowned. "But you're a wizard." There wasn't anyone around to hear the statement, because it was still not allowed, but Arthur would change it. Someday, he'd change it. He'd already promised Merlin that he would, and he intended to keep that promise.

"Yes," Merlin sounded very amused now. "I thought we'd talked about that ages (_3 months, 16 days, 7 hours, 54 minutes_) ago."

"Well, can't you do something… wizard-y?" Arthur floundered before settling on the word.

"Wizard-y is not a word," Merlin corrected absently.

Arthur snorted. "In case you have forgotten-"

"You wouldn't give me the chance."

"I am the Prince of Camelot. I can make all the words I want."

Merlin rolled his eyes, but there was no reply otherwise.

"Mer-lin," Arthur whined, and Merlin looked up and saw a flash of a five-year-old prat, now older, but still a prat.

"Ar-thur," Merlin mimicked with a smirk.

Arthur's mood turned foul immediately.

Merlin had stopped being surprised at the almost female behavior around the time Arthur had kicked a tantrum just because Merlin chose to help one of the other servants with their work. Or maybe it was when Arthur had sulked because one of Morgana's friends had flirted with Merlin. Or when one of the Knights had decided to be kind enough to help him carry a pile of wood. Or, Merlin realized, anytime Merlin was involved with anyone else in general –Arthur was bound to find fault.

"Merlin, I insist that you do something about this."

"Nope."

"But I need an heir anyways," Arthur tried valiantly.

Merlin looked up at him slowly. "Arthur, I don't think you want to be a woman, right?" he elongated the last word.

The answer was given without hesitation. "Then you be one."

"No."

"But Merlin-"

"No."

"I order you to-"

Merlin smiled. "No way in _hell_."

-|-

A few moments later, when Merlin had Arthur against the wall, mouth harsh and demanding, whispering, "A kid, Arthur? You think you can do this with a kid around?" Arthur thought that maybe having a kid wasn't really that good an idea after all.

-|-

**4 years later**

"Papa!" the little girl ran from the castle doors towards the horse, blond hair flying about her face as she jumped into outstretched arms.

"And how is my little Princess?" Arthur kissed the girl's forehead gently.

"Oh, you're never going to guess, Aunt Gwen and Aunt Morgana came over with food the other day, and Daddy acted like such an idiot," she used the term with affection, "He managed to spill it all over Aunt Morgana and her face grew red, Papa, I tell you, it looked just like the tomatoes, which I'm growing in the garden, did you know, they're really big and nice and the gardener says that you can eat them and not get poisoned but Daddy said that we can't be too sure so he'd do a spell to make it all clean…" The girl continued without stopping.

Merlin moved towards Arthur from his earlier position near the castle doors. "She's exactly like you," he teased.

"In looks maybe, but she's got your mouth," Arthur said softly, nuzzling his cheek slightly. "Talks far too much."

"Have you seen her when she doesn't get the toy she wants? That's you all the way, Pendragon," Merlin retorted.

"Pendragon isn't an effective insult when it's your name too, idiot," Arthur said.

Merlin scowled slightly. "Well, it's not my fault I had to change my name."

"Of course it is, you chose me, didn't you?" Arthur said smugly.

Merlin scoffed. "More like _you_ chose _me_," he clarified.

Arthur grinned. "I've got good taste."

Merlin softened at the words. He raised a hand to play with strands of loose blond hair. "Missed you."

"Missed you too," Arthur said, leaning forward to kiss Merlin.

The answering yell was immediate. "Eww, Daddy and Papa are kissing!"

-|-

Arthur smiled at the small girl lying in the bed, Merlin's arms wrapping around him. "We did good," the wizard murmured, and Arthur's smile only widened.


End file.
